Sovereign of the Ashes

Howard and his group retreated swiftly.

Such was the nature of battles between Rank Four beings on the battlefield.

Once one side was determined to withdraw, the other could scarcely pursue unless it held a decisive numerical advantage or overwhelming individual power.

Otherwise, it was nearly impossible to pursue a “god” focused solely on fleeing at full speed.

What caught Sein’s attention during the retreat was Howard’s action as they departed—he produced another flask.

All the low-ranking research mages from the experimental base, along with the severely injured knights and mages rescued earlier, were gathered together and sealed inside the flask by Howard.

Sein had crafted spatial living devices before; the necklace Yuri lived in most of the time was one such example.

However, creating a device capable of housing such a large number of living beings was an entirely different matter.

On top of that, Howard had also stored away two severely injured Rank Four mages before leaving.

The life level of Rank Four beings made crafting spatial living devices of this scale even more challenging.

The necklace Sein had crafted for Yuri alone had required immense effort and top-tier materials.

He could not help but marvel at how many treasures the old mage possessed.

Given the chance, he would certainly find a way to acquire a few for study.

Most artifacts belonging to mages who specialized in ancient civilization research were relics excavated on other planes.

He could not help wondering which worlds Howard’s blue lamp and spatial living flask had come from.

With Sein acting as the rear guard, Howard’s retreat proceeded relatively smoothly.

Although some federal warships slipped past Sein’s blockade to pursue Howard’s group, their numbers and firepower were insufficient to pose a serious threat. Howard’s team should be able to handle them.

The main force that stayed with Sein consisted primarily of knights stationed around the experimental base, along with several mages who still possessed solid combat capabilities and had suffered only minor injuries.

Black Oblivion and his relatives also stayed behind.

Though each dragonkin had his own weaknesses, together they were formidable allies on the battlefield.

Among the three, Hanliu—previously the most outstanding and the best at unleashing fiery attacks—now appeared to be the most severely wounded.

Several federal destroyers punched through Hanliu’s scales with their main cannon beams, causing dragon blood to gush from the wounds.

Beyond those destroyers capable of threatening Rank Four creatures, the dense swarm of medium-sized and small federal warships, along with drones circling the aerial battlefield, proved just as troublesome.

Individually, the small energy cannons mounted on these warships and the homing missiles carried by the drones would normally be incapable of breaching a Rank Four creature’s defenses.

Yet within the Astral Realm, there was a saying that quantity could lead to qualitative change!

Law-wielding Magus World knights and mages, such as Sein, could draw tremendous power in interplanar wars by commanding vast legions.

The same held true for the Gallant Federation’s fleets, which had formidable offensive capabilities of their own.

When millions, or even tens of millions, of Federation warships converged, even without advanced weapons capable of threatening Rank Four or Rank Five creatures, most deities would still choose to avoid them.

There was simply no reason to engage such forces head-on.

Most of Hanliu’s injuries were inflicted by smaller warships, after the main destroyers had destroyed his dragon scales.

Prolonged combat had stripped Hanliu of much of his initial vigor.

Fortunately, Black Oblivion and Qixiu did everything they could to support their comrade during the battle. Although Hanliu’s wounds continued to multiply, none of them were critical.

This Rank Four dragonkin, blessed with a luxuriant mane, proved astonishingly resilient and showed little sign of collapse despite his injuries.

When Master Howard and the others withdrew earlier, Sein had believed that Hanliu could retreat alongside them.

Instead, he had gritted his teeth and endured.

Before long, Master Howard disappeared completely from view. Sein decided it was about time for his own group to withdraw as well.

He signaled the surrounding knights and mages to begin a phased retreat.

Since he, Black Oblivion, Qixiu, and Hanliu each wielded world-class secret treasures, and Yuri was piloting the Burning Flame Unit with ample Energy Amethysts supplied by the Magic Cube, Sein decided that they were the best choice to bring up the rear.

The real threats were the angel robot legions on the verge of breaking through the energy barrier, as well as the remaining undamaged federal ships that had yet to join the fight.

After such prolonged combat, the federation’s forces directly above the experimental base had lost much of their ability to stop Sein’s group from withdrawing, despite the heavy casualties they had inflicted on the Magus Civilization legions.

Charlie Robert was a two-star major general.

From the time Charlie underwent special training with the federal military more than a thousand years ago and began piloting giant mobile suits in combat, both his and his brother’s military careers skyrocketed.

Charlie’s older brother was Yancy Robert, and their comrades often referred to them as the Roberts.

They progressed from piloting basic training models to the Blade I with Rank Three combat power, then to the RD-S model with near demigod-level performance, and ultimately to test units rivaling Rank Four lifeforms.

Although they were not the most versatile pilots in the Gallant Federation, the Roberts undoubtedly stood among the elite of the younger generation of mobile suit pilots.

Their current mobile suit, the Deadly Wanderer, was a Rank Five unit powered by neutron nuclear energy, rather than the standard power sources used by most mobile suits.

The Roberts’ exceptional neural synchronization efficiency had forged their illustrious careers. Judging by the speed of their promotions, their future prospects were exceedingly bright.

But today, the Magus Civilization forces on this battlefield were determined to leave a stain on their records.

The surrounding warships had received a direct order from Four-Star Lieutenant General Joeman: prevent the escape of the Magus Civilization’s elite forces at all costs.

This directive was not aimed at them alone. Every vessel and mobile suit engaged in the surrounding battle had received the same command.

Yet the enemy’s overwhelming power and absurdly resilient defenses made it exceedingly difficult for the already battered federal forces to carry out the general’s order.

“Brother!” Charlie suddenly heard his elder brother’s voice as he piloted his mobile suit.

Thanks to their near-perfect neural linkage efficiency, Charlie understood his brother’s intent almost instantly.

Military orders were absolute. Yancy was far more rigid about protocol than Charlie, valuing a soldier’s duty and honor above all else. It was one of the few differences between them.

In the Astral Realm, both of them were already recognized as Rank Five combatants.

Lieutenant General Joeman commanded the fleet, yet the brothers piloting the Deadly Wanderer held only the rank of major general.

This reflected the Gallant Federation military’s entrenched traditional factions and their cautious attitude toward newly emerging centers of power.

Hearing the resolve in his brother’s voice, Charlie yanked the control stick, his movement almost perfectly mirroring Yancy’s actions in the other cockpit.

“GO, DEADLY WANDERER!”

With Charlie’s roar, the Rank Five mobile suit’s systems were pushed to their limits.

Though battered and scarred, the metal construct plunged straight into the heart of the battlefield boldly!